When you first start out with your business hiring a marketing firm may not be in your budget. You can successfully market your business without spending a small fortune. Before we had the web there were lots of ways you could cheaply market your business that were fairly cheap. You could print fliers or do some network marketing to get the job done. The internet changed the marketing game, but it many ways it does make it more cost effective to market your business. If you have no budget for marketing, here are some cost effective ways to market your business.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is a necessity and it is a cheap and easy way to market your business. You can join groups related to your industry on both Facebook and LinkedIn. Contribute to these groups regularly, this will help establish yourself as an expert in your field. You can also create your own group on either platform. It’s also an easy way to offer discounts or let customers know about sales.
Video Marketing
Got a smartphone? Yes, then you have everything you need to start video marketing. YouTube is the second most used search engine in the world so you definitely want to have a presence there. Create some “how to” guides that people want to watch. Think of the most common questions that your customers and make a video answering them.
Make Sure You’re on Local Listings
If you run a local business then this step is a must! There are dozens of local directories that your website or business could be on but right now the one you want to concentrate on is Google My Business. More and more people turn to Google before calling or buying anything, even locally, having your business here allows you to show up on Google Maps. This is completely free and you can set it up in about 15 minutes. You definitely want to be here.
Start a Blog
Blogging is an effective way to get your business name out there and to position yourself as an expert in your field. You can connect to your customers directly and keep them updated on what is happening in your industry. This is going to be work, you need to regularly contribute to you blog. Use it as a chance to answer commonly asked questions and make sure that you share it across all of your social media channels.
These are just some of the steps to get you started bringing in new customers, at some point you will want to work with a marketing agency to help take your business to the next level of success.